A newly devised system to enable Tory MPs to elect the Party leader was used for the first time in July 1965. A letter published in the New Statesman on March 11 asserted that Ted Heath, who won the contest, had been the favourite from the start. That assertion was challenged by another correspondent on March 11. Alistair Lexden provided a full account of what happened in a letter published on April 1.
A definitive account of the 1965 Tory leadership election (Letters, 11 and 18 March) was provided the late Professor John Ramsden, in his authoritative work The Winds of Change: Macmillan to Heath, Ramsden writes, “[Reginald] Maudling was favourite: he had had wider ministerial experience… a Daily Express poll suggested that the public preferred Maudling to Heath by 44 per cent to 28 per cent”. As for the actual electorate in this contest, “for Prime Minister most MPs would probably have preferred Maudling, but since it was a leader of the opposition that was needed they opted for Heath’s more abrasive manner”. Maudling thought he would coast to victory, fighting a campaign that was “over-confident and half-hearted”. Much duplicity was practised by the wily electors. Forty-five MPs promised their votes to both candidates.
Alistair Lexden
House of Lords